On the morning of June 29th 1860, the Kent family woke up to find their 3 year old boy missing from the house...only to find his body in the privy outside. What intrigued everyone was that the house was found locked from inside therefore all the inmates became suspects – the father, the siblings, the servants...The police were baffled; Jack Whicher, one of the most distinguished detectives of the time, arrived at Road Hill House* after two weeks and faced the horrible fact - to unravel the mystery for the mourning family where every one of them was a suspect.
From the open window of the drawing room...to the lost night-dress...to the blood stains...to the missing murder weapon, Whicher tried his best to reconstruct the scene but could find nothing more than circumstantial evidence...
It's a true story and the case is in the police files – it's even published on the MET police website – if you want to ruin it for yourself.
The book is a work of genius; a masterpiece – one can see [read] the amount of research and effort Kate Summerscale has put in to recreate the story. It is one of the best books I have read in the last few years. A must read.
*The village of Road is now spelt as Rode; the Road Hill house also changed its name to Langham House in 1870's
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